Chapter 15
An encounter brought by Ruddles flowers
Two days before the knights belonging to the order of beasts made their way to the village of Greenland.
Loud snores echoed through his bed room, the cool rays of morning sunlight gently shining across his skin as he lay sleeping on his bed.
The door to his bedroom slowly creaked open from the other side of the door stood Noelle. She held her hand close to her chest, a thought weighing heavily on her mind.
A voice breaks her out of thought she turned around to see Adam standing behind.
Oh honey your up she said in pleasant surprise how's your feet feeling does it still hurt you slept so peacefully yesterday it made my heart flutter with joy.
She placed both hands on each side of her cheek. Oh Adam, you looked just as young as when I first laid my eyes on you.
While she continued to yap Adam had already made his way into Niel's room his eyes fell on a now loud snoring niel with blankets falling off him.
Adam trying to suppress the faint smile that tugged at the corner of his lips said ah so you are a man after Niel Adomson.
Just then, the door to Niel's room flew completely open.
"Adam!" Noelle yelled out loud. "How dare you ignore your wife like that!"
Taking several aggressive steps closer to him, she pointed her finger directly in front of his nose. "Do you have any idea how worried I was? I couldn't even eat properly! I genuinely thought you were going to die, and all I get from you is the cold shoulder? Who do you think you are?!"
Adam flinched at the sheer volume of her words. "Cold shoulder?" he repeated defensively, his warrior pride taking a hit as he tried to defuse her anger. "Noelle, I simply wanted to see Niel. I didn't want to disturb you while you were speaking."
Noelle huffed, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "Whatever. I don't buy it," she uttered angrily, turning her face away.
A sudden warmth spread through her chest as Adam stepped forward, wrapping his strong arms around her and pulling her close against him. A bright flush instantly painted her cheeks.
"Noelle, thank you for worrying about me," Adam whispered into her hair, his grip firm and steady. "And I'm sorry for ignoring you."
The blush on her face vanished immediately, replaced by a sudden look of genuine shock and absolute horror. She pushed back slightly, looking up at him with wide, disbelieving eyes. "Who... who are you?" she questioned, sounding entirely freaked out. "My Adam almost never thanks me!"
Adam chuckled softly at her reaction, a profound sense of peace settling over him. "I'm just happy, is all," he uttered softly, looking down at her with a gentle, relaxed smile. "After all... had Niel not been here, I really could have died."
Noelle frowned at him, her heart softening. But just before she could open her mouth to say something back, Niel's quiet, raspy voice broke through the silence of the room.
"What do you mean... you could have died?" Niel asked, squinting against the morning light as he sleepily rubbed his eyes.
Their eyes widened in complete surprise. "Niel!" they uttered simultaneously.
In a split second, Adam let go of his wife, stepping back as he instantly broadened his shoulders, puffed out his chest, and stood perfectly tall, desperately trying to appear manly and intimidating in front of his new student.
Seeing the hilariously fast transformation, Noelle let out a heavy, judgy sigh. Oh, wow... she thought to herself, her piercing gaze deadpanning straight at her husband's stiff posture.
Adam cleared his throat, trying to salvage his tough-guy image. "Niel... how long have you been awake?"
"Not too long," Niel answered softly, yawning as he sat up. "I just woke up."
"Are you sure you woke up just now?" Adam asked, a slight wave of nervous panic crossing his heart.
Niel yawned softly, stretching his arms. "No... I woke up the exact moment I heard my door fly open."
When the door flew open... Adam murmured to himself, trying to mentally retrace the timeline. Suddenly, he felt a firm tug on his sleeve. Glancing down, he saw Noelle pointing directly at herself with a sly, knowing smile.
He blinked in confusion, but after a few agonizing seconds, the realization finally crept in. His dark eyes widened in sudden horror, and his head snapped violently back toward the silver-haired youth. Niel heard absolutely everything.
Noelle laughed softly at her husband's rare, terrified facial expression, covering her mouth with her palm as she desperately tried to suppress her giggles.
"Your feet were covered in deep bruises, and both sides were heavily swollen," Niel said, completely ignoring the couple's silent panic as he sat up. "But that's not enough to physically kill someone—unless it were left to fester and get significantly worse."
A heavy, somber silence instantly fell over the room as both adults looked at Niel, letting the weight of his question sink into the air.
"It's a common thing here," Adam replied calmly, his dark eyes locking fiercely onto Niel's golden ones. "I am sure you noticed it when you first arrived... the many graveyards scattered across this land."
Niel flinched hard at Adam's words. "You... yes."
"This village was once massive," Adam continued, his tone dropping into a grim, gravelly register. "But the rate of death in this place is unnaturally high." Raising his hand, the legendary warrior stared blankly into his own weathered palm. "Those people did not fall in battle, Niel. They died in strange, quiet ways—often from the smallest, most trivial of injuries."
Niel swallowed hard, his heart racing violently against his ribs. Sky's aggressive questions from the previous night suddenly came echoing back to shatter his thoughts: Why is it that only people with the surname Adamson know how to heal others?
Noelle's gaze dropped silently to the wooden floor, a calm, heavy stillness consuming the bedroom. Suddenly, breaking all protocol, Adam extended his hand straight out toward Niel.
Shock and profound confusion simultaneously flashed across both Niel's and Noelle's faces.
"Last night, I found out the hard way that there is more to this world than just raw strength," Adam said, his sharp eyes softening with a rare, deep vulnerability. "Niel... you possess a completely different kind of power. It is an authority I have never witnessed in all my years on the battlefield. So, I am asking this favor of you. Please, help the people of this village. Many of them are suffering through the exact same agony I was enduring—some even worse. You're the only person I know who can save them."
The morning sunlight shone brightly across both Niel and Adam. In that singular, world-shifting moment, swords, training, and the brutal mandate of the battlefield were entirely left behind.
Niel reached forward, closing his fingers around the old knight's calloused palm. "I accept your request, Sir Adam."
Following that morning, Niel's name spread like wildfire throughout the entire village.
Sick and suffering villagers from every corner of Greenland made their way to the Valenis homestead. One by one, they received precision medical treatments and the unique medicines Niel compounded himself. Generous to a fault, Niel didn't just hand over the remedies; he explicitly gave them the exact recipes and instructions on how to forage and brew them on their own.
As the crowds grew larger, lines began to snake all the way down the road. Seeing the massive turnout, Adam, alongside several of the stronger men from the village, built handmade wooden tables and chairs so the waiting villagers would have a comfortable place to rest.
The community quickly grew to absolutely adore Niel. It wasn't just his medical genius that won them over; he was also remarkably kind, infinitely patient, and handsome—a combination that prompted the locals to constantly shower him with handmade gifts, fresh food, and tokens of appreciation. A few overzealous elders even went as far as offering their daughters' hands in marriage to the young healer.
And just like that, in the brief span of a mere two days, Niel had completely won over the hearts of every single person in the village.
A cold wind swept across the expansive grassfield.
The clouds overhead grew darker as the soft thuds of Niel's boots pressed onto the grass.
"Sigh... finally free," he uttered tiredly. His exhausted eyes looked up at the looming storm clouds. "Hmm, it's going to rain soon," he muttered to himself, before slowly turning around. "Goodbye, my peace."
But as he completed his turn, a look of sudden worry and intense confusion crept across his face. He blinked, staring blankly ahead. "Uhm... where am I?"
He placed his hand flat above his eyes, shielding them against the rising gale for a better view, but only endless, undulating grassfields were spotted in every direction.
"Oh no," Niel groaned, slumping his shoulders. "I was so tired, I randomly walked straight into the middle of nowhere."
Taking a few hesitant steps forward, a sudden, rich fragrance hit his senses. Niel's eyes widened as his gaze locked onto a stunning, vibrant field carpeted in deep orange and bright yellow blossoms.
"Is that... Ruddles flowers?"
A vivid memory immediately crossed his mind. Those are Princess Aira's absolute favourite flowers, he thought, his chest tightening with sudden longing.
A bright, excited smile flashed across Niel's face. He took a few quick, energized steps forward, completely forgetting that he was lost as he approached the edge of the sprawling flower field. "Woah... I can't believe I would actually find something like this all the way out here."
Standing in awe before the endless sea of petals, he reached down to carefully pluck one from its stem. But just as his fingers brushed the leaf, a sharp, commanding voice of a woman rang out from directly behind him.
"Hey! You there... what do you think you're doing?"
Niel flinched at the unexpected voice. He stood up straight and slowly turned around to look at the woman behind him.
Long strands of her striking purple hair whipped frantically in the rising wind. She stood with her arms crossed tightly over her chest, her sharp purple eyes locked dead onto his golden ones. Niel took a moment to get a better look at her appearance, before letting out a long, relaxed sigh of relief.
"Phew... it's just a little girl," he uttered softly under his breath.
But his words didn't go unnoticed. The girl instantly snapped, her expression turning explosive. "I am not a little girl!!"
Pure confusion was etched across Niel's face. "Huh? You're not?"
"Of course I'm not, you airheaded buffoon!" she shouted, her small hands balling into tight, white-knuckled fists at her sides.
Niel simply flashed a warm, entirely unbothered smile at her, waving his hand placatingly. "Now, now... no need to be so upset."
But his calm words and relaxed smile only caused her fury to spread like wildfire. Her face turned a bright, furious shade of crimson. "Why, you..." she uttered, her anger boiling over the edge. "I'll teach you not to underestimate me, you... you... whatever!!"
She shouted at the top of her lungs before lunging straight at him. She put every single ounce of her physical might into a heavy punch that connected squarely with Niel's stomach.
THUD.
A sudden, heavy silence fell over the flower field. Niel stood completely frozen, desperately trying to bite his lip to keep from laughing, while the flush of anger on the young offender's face instantly dissolved into a deep, agonizing flush of pure embarrassment.
Nothing. Niel felt absolutely nothing from her attack. He hadn't even budged an inch. His soft, suppressed giggles slowly began to break free, turning into a rolling, loud laughter that echoed across the field.
Taking a few quick steps backward, her head snapped back up to glare at him with absolute outrage. "Stop it! Stop laughing!!" she shouted, stomping her boot into the dirt.
But it was to no avail. Even though Niel actively tried to suppress himself and clear his throat, he just couldn't help it—the situation was simply too ridiculous.
Niel took a step back, but his own heels clipped each other. His balance shattered, sending him tilting backward directly toward the fragile flower beds.
Seeing the imminent disaster, the girl reacted instantly. Moving with sharp speed and perfect precision, she darted across the grass, slipping directly behind Niel's back to save the blossoms.
The moment Niel's back collided with hers, she leaned her body weight forward, seamlessly absorbing his momentum. With a sharp, practiced torque of her hips, she shoved backward, launching Niel a meter or two through the air away from the crop.
"Huh... I'm... airborne?" Niel uttered in utter disbelief as he tumbled backward.
As he hurtled toward the earth, he desperately tried to stick a landing on his feet, but his boots missed the mark entirely. His hands slammed into the grass, and the sheer momentum sent him tumbling down what turned out to be a steep, rolling grass hill.
While Niel was busy tumbling over himself down the hillside, the purple-haired girl sat back on her knees among the blossoms, letting out a massive, relieved sigh. She gently patted the soil. "Phew... none of you got squashed. Thank goodness!"
Suddenly remembering her intruder, she snapped her head back toward the crest of the hill. "Hey, fool! Watch your step next time!" she shouted, only to freeze.
The hillside was completely empty. She blinked, looking around blankly. "Huh... where the heck did he go?" she asked herself in pure confusion.